JEDDAH/DUBAI: Logistics firm Agility surged on Tuesday after saying it might sell investments and Kuwait banks rose as traders bet a possible sale of telecoms operator Zain would boost liquidity in the sector.

But other Gulf Arab markets were flat, with volumes slumping to milestone lows.

The Dubai and Kuwait benchmarks added 0.1 percent, Saudi Arabia fell by the same margin and Oman, Abu Dhabi and Bahrain all lost 0.2 percent.

The Tadawul All-Share Index (TASI) closed on Tuesday at 5,785.3 points. Four sectors advanced on Tuesday, with gains of 0.04 percent in Industrial Investment, 0.07 percent in Multi-Investment, 0.49 percent in Banks & Financial Services and 0.85 percent in the Hotel & Tourism sector. Ten sectors, however, saw losses, including the Petrochemical sector, which was down 0.54 percent.

The Energy & Utilities sector was unchanged on Tuesday. Market breadth was negative, with 86 advancers and 29 decliners, giving an AD ratio of 2.97, the Jeddah-based Financial Transaction House (FTH) said in its daily market commentary.

The Saudi stock market turnover was SR2.77 billion on Tuesday.

Qatar’s index was the biggest Gulf mover, dropping 0.9 percent to 6,868 points, while Egypt’s measure climbed 1.1 percent to 6,691 points in lackluster trading.

Agility surged 3.3 percent, equaling its highest close of the past 14 months after saying it may offload investments if it benefits investors. This followed a newspaper report saying Agility was in final talks to sell its stake in Iraq’s Korek Telecom.

National Bank of Kuwait added 3.3 percent and Kuwait Finance House jumped 4.8 percent.

Volumes in Dubai and Saudi Arabia fell to 29-week and 46-week lows respectively, while Qatar’s trading was its lowest for more than a year.

Dubai’s Arabtec rose 1.4 percent after the contractor won a new $187 million deal, helping Dubai’s index overcome early losses to end higher for the third session in four. The benchmark’s slight gain may be misleading because the main support, Emirates NBD, added 1.9 percent after only 1,000 of the lender’s shares were traded.

— With input from agencies